Restaurants do things differently than you would in your kitchen. Sometimes that means they make something that you would never try. For instance they’ll spend a whole day making a stock, because they know they’re going to get a hundred orders for the special that night. But there are a lot more tricks that you can use. Today’s post is one of those tricks.
If you’ve ever been to a steakhouse and two people ordered steaks cooked differently — one medium-rare and one rare for instance — did you notice the size when they came out? The way they make sure all the meals for an order are done at the same time is to sort the uncooked steaks by thickness. Then they cook them all for the same length of time. The thicker ones are more rare, the thinner ones are more done. Pretty clever, huh?
The lesson to take from this is that the thinner the steak is, the faster it cooks. That means the perfect steak for grilling is thin enough that the moment the outside is charred the inside is done. The problem is Americans love the idea of a “thick, juicy steak.” So that’s how you’ll find all the good cuts in the store: thick.
Just one more reason to go to your local butcher. I went in and asked for four thin ribeyes. There weren’t any already in the display case, so he went back and cut them for me.
Bonuses from thin steaks:
- Those four probably would have been two at the regular cut size.
- They come up to room temperature much faster. And you should always let meat come to room temperature before cooking. The colder the center is, the more dried out the outside will be by the time the center is done.
- Higher ratio of surface area, so there’s more charred delicious goodness per bite.
Give the steaks a generous coating of kosher salt about 10 minutes before you plan to put them on the grill. The salt will draw out just enough moisture to get a great Maillard reaction going.
Then a coating of fresh ground black pepper.
Turn the grill up as high as it will go, lube it up with bacon fat, then lay the steaks out.
If it’s hot enough, the steak will sizzle the second it hits the grill. After about half a minute, turn the steaks about 45 degrees, but don’t flip them over yet. As soon as you see moisture start to collect on top, flip them over.
You should have those beautiful grill marks now. Repeat the process on the second side: quarter-turn after half a minute, then leave it just until you see moisture on the top.
If you have a cool spot on your grill, one of the steaks might not be as done as the others. (The one on the bottom right in that picture above.) If that happens, just swap places between the most-cooked and the least-cooked when you turn them over and everything will even out.
As soon as you see moisture on top, flip it one more time and let the juice drip down and flare up. A little good-old flame grilling is good for the soul. Reconnects you with your inner caveman. Scoop the steaks up out of the flame and get them to the table before they cool down.
And that’s it.
If you want to see a group of men totally blissed out, bring them a plate of these things and no silverware. Let them grab a steak and eat with their hands, with juice dripping off their elbows. [sigh] Good times … good times.
13 Comments
Ooooo, pretty grill marks! That’s one of those presentation things that I never bother with when I’m cooking, because all I care about is how it tastes, but it does look all nice and professional.
And if I may be so bold as to ask a personal question: Did you work in professional kitchens? Sounds like you did.
I do my steaks almost exactly this way… or I did when I still had a grill–I rely on a smoking hot iron skillet now. Salt and pepper is all I’ll use on them–and a little massage with oil. I don’t like my steaks adulterated with too much seasoning!
Only in the last couple of weeks have I learned the thicker for rare and thinner for less rare trick, although I hadn’t really thought it through so I’m glad to have it laid out for me like that! It will really help me in the kitchen.
There is one thing different I do with my steaks. As soon as they come off the grill (or pan) they go straight into foil or some other sealable container. For some reason, a minute or two of steaming in their own heat and moisture makes them ever so much more tasty.
Yes and no. I did work in a professional kitchen, but it was at a college town restaurant that served mostly sandwiches. So mostly what I learned there was how to plan ahead and work fast. It’s been nearly 20 years of picking things up a little at a time since then.
Genie, I’d like to try that with the foil, but I don’t know that I could keep people away from the steaks that long. I had to hold my wife and kids off with the grill tools to get those pictures.
I cook alone most of the time, my husband stays planted in front of whatever electronic device interests him most at the moment while I prepare his food.
I wish I had family hanging on me when I cook sometimes though, it would be much more motivational!
I used to work in a restaurant too (and I cried every night when I went home because everyone in the kitchen was an a$$hole. Different story for a different day) and the cook prep was worse than the actual service.
I don’t know about giving a group of guys the license to let juice drip down their arms, but I love to see a man tear into a steak.
Genie, it’s motivational the same way kids in the back seat saying, “Are we there yet?” is motivational.
Nikki, it’s a guy thing. Don’t try to understand it.
Very nice but pepper after cooking as pepper will burn and cause unpleasant flavors
J.C., maybe I’ve just gotten lucky. Or maybe it’s because I grind finer than you do. But I’ve never had a problem with that. But now that you’ve said it I’m probably going to be over-aware of it.
J.C. and Drew, I’ve never had a problem with black pepper on my steaks either–and I use quite a bit. But I like my steaks rare. Maybe that’s why the pepper never gets unpleasantly cooked. I also don’t tend to cook super thick steaks–so cooking time is reduced. Perhaps it has something to do with the amount of time on the grill.
that looks GRUB. I’m so hungry right now.
Word! I’m getting the tummy grumblies now, too. (Oh damn, did I just write that in public? I’m only supposed to say that around the kids.)
Nothing other than the preview text and image is showing up. D8
Thanks so much for letting me know. It’s fixed now.